8:31 PM, May 15, 2014

Democratic candidate for governor and former state sen. Mark Schauer congratulates senate majority leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe on Thursday after the senate passed a hike in the minimum wage to $9.20 an hour. Schauer has been calling for a hike to $9.25 per hour. / Kathy Gray/Detroit Free Press

LANSING — Despite angry protests from advocates for a minimum wage hike to $10.10 per hour, the Senate passed a hike in the state’s minimum wage to $9.20 per hour by a vote of 24-14.

The bill, however, also could scuttle a petition drive that would raise it to the higher amount.

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, introduced the bill last week and offered it up for a vote Thursday afternoon. Ten of the 12 Democrats in the Senate joined 14 Republicans in approving the measure. There were no committee hearings on the bill, which would repeal the existing minimum wage law and reinstate it with one that gradually raises the hourly rate from the current $7.40 to $9.20 per hour by 2017, and from $2.65 to $3.50 per hour for tipped employees such as waitresses and bartenders.

“I’ve long been a vocal proponent for raising the minimum wage,” said state Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Detroit. “It’s about earning a minimum of dignity and being able to attain a quality of life that will allow stability for families.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer, who has advocated for a minimum wage of $9.25 an hour since November, was thrilled with the Senate action — even if it does end up killing the ballot proposal.

“This is a meaningful raise for 1 million people in Michigan,” he said.

But Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, said the increase would have a negative effect on the state’s economy.

“Every time you jack up the minimum wage, you decrease the rate of employment,” he said. “This is bad news for the state of Michigan.”

And state Sen. Morris Hood, D-Detroit, said he voted against the bill because it essentially kills the ballot proposal.

“This legislation still tramples on the rights of the people and takes away their abilities to have a ballot initiative brought forth,” he said.

The Raise Michigan coalition, which is spearheading the petition drive to get the $10.10 hike on the November ballot, said it would continue its efforts, despite the Senate actions. Members of the coalition said Tuesday that they have enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

“It’s disappointing to see the Republican-controlled legislature hell-bent on derailing our grassroots effort to help lift Michigan families out of poverty,” said Dessa Cosma-King, a Raise Michigan coalition member. “The bill they passed (Thursday) just doesn’t go far enough to help struggling Michiganders.”

Moran, a retired letter carrier who collected more than 1,000 signatures, said Richardville was virtually erasing all those signatures with his bill.

“What he’s trying to do is take away the right of voters,” Moran said. “It’s sneaky and it makes people even more cynical about politicians.”

Because the bill repeals the existing law, it would make a petition drive that's seeking to put a $10.10 hourly rate on the November ballot meaningless, angering hundreds of volunteers who have been collecting signatures for the ballot proposal for the last several months.

Richardville initially offered a bill to increase the minimum wage to $8.15 per hour and $2.93 for tipped employees, but came up with the higher figures to try to gain support from Democrats.

But Richardville’s bill would short-circuit the process if it’s passed by the House and signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder, who said Wednesday: “I appreciate Sen. Richardville putting a bill in on this. But I think it’s a balancing act” between helping people do better economically and how an increased wage will affect business and its ability to hire people.

The main Republican objection to the $10.10 petition drive was the gradual increase in wages to tipped workers from $2.65 to $10.10 at a rate of 85 cents a year. Many have said that it would dramatically harm restaurants and that most waitstaff workers earn far more than the minimum wage with their tips.

Richardville said after the vote that the Raise Michigan coalition proposal went too far, especially with respect to the tipped workers.

Passage in the House, where the bill moves now, is not a given, said Ari Adler, spokesman for Speaker of the House Jase Bolger.

“Sen. Richardville’s minimum wage bill needs to be closely reviewed because it makes many changes to the law that Speaker Bolger has grave concerns about,” he said in a statement. “We will not make any decisions about what to do with the bill until we have a chance to get a better understanding of the potential negative impact of this proposal on Michigan’s working families and job providers.”